Modern shipping, storing and displaying techniques in the packaging industry have made it desirable to be able to use a single container for all of these three product handling stages. The requirements to be fulfilled at each of these stages can, however, be quite different and sometimes even contradictory vis-a-vis container characteristics. Indeed, for shipping and storing, it is important that the containers provide strength for product protection and to permit stacking. At the displaying stage, strength and stackability are still important, but it is also highly desirable that the individual items packed within the containers be visible and accessible for price marking and for easy removal. Such visibility and product accessibility generally tends to result in a substantial loss of overall strength in the container. It is furthermore highly desirable that the containers be easily openable without a need for additional tools or substantial labor and/or time. All these requirements must be fulfilled without unduly increasing the cost of the container. None of the containers heretofore known in the industry could achieve all of these objectives simultaneously.
Increasing strength and, consequently, stackability of individual containers, without using stronger, more expensive material, has been achieved by building pillars in the four corners of a container, by appropriately folding part of the carton blank, as is described in French Pat. No. 1,416,645 filed by Cartiere di Verona on Nov. 4, 1964. Another version of containers with triangular reinforcing pillars is disclosed as the product of the machine covered by German OS No. 2,819,000 filed by Mecanica di Valenti Dante on Apr. 29, 1978.
Conventional shipping and display containers having one, two, three or four lateral side-panels showing a window cut-out allowing visibility of the individual items are available in the trade. None of these containers are, however, strong enough to allow a stacked display without additional reinforcing or supporting material. Furthermore, none of them is provided with a top-panel which can be removed by one pull of the hand to allow easy accessibility of the individual items packed for price marking or removing.